Council on Library and Information Resources

The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) is an American independent, nonprofit organization. It works with libraries, cultural institutions, and higher learning communities on developing strategies to improve research, teaching, and learning environments. It is based in Washington, D.C., USA.[1]

The CLIR resulted from the merger of the Commission on Preservation and Access (CPA) and the Council on Library Resources (CLR) in 1997.[2] Planning for the merger began in 1995, with the appointment of Deanna B. Marcum as the president of both organizations by their respective boards.[3] Following the merger, Marcum served as president of CLIR until 2003.[4]

Council on Library Resources

Established in 1956 with a $5 million grant from the Ford Foundation, the Council on Library Resources was an independent coordinating body that aimed to address common problems faced by libraries in an era of explosive library growth and the emergence of new technologies.[5] Louis B. Wright, the director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, was a principal figure in the organization's founding.[3][6] Verner Clapp, then the Deputy Librarian of Congress, was named the first president, and served until 1967.[7]

CLR subsequently received further grants from the Ford Foundation, amounting to $31.5 million by 1983; and, beginning in 1978, also received funding from a variety of other sources, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Pew Memorial Trust.[8] CLR's own grant-making activities focused on increasing library cooperation, supporting the application of technological developments to library needs, and conducting research on library problems.[9] It funded programs to improve nationwide bibliographic access and services, to support collection development, and to develop strategies for the preservation of library materials.[10]

Commission on Preservation and Access

The Commission on Preservation and Access was established as a permanent body in 1986. It had its beginnings in the work of a task force on preservation and access that was one of several task forces formed jointly by the Association of American Universities and the Council on Library Resources, under the leadership of CLR president Warren J. Haas, who took office in 1978. Haas, who had previously headed the Columbia University Libraries, was particularly attuned to the problem of the deteriorating condition of books and journals in library collections, and, in 1972, in response to failed efforts of the Association of Research Libraries to formulate a plan for collective action, had articulated recommendations for a national preservation program.[11]

Haas served as interim chair of the newly formed Commission, until the appointment of Patricia Battin as its first president in August 1987.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Council on Library and Information Resources". USA: Society of American Archivists. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  2. ↑ dead link] "Council on Library and Information Resources, USA". Digital Preservation Europe. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "History." Council on Library and Information Resources. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "Marcum Appointed Associate Librarian for Library Services" (September 2003). Library of Congress Information Bulletin 62(9), p. 199. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "The Council on Library Resources" (1961). Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 49(2), p. 225.
  6. ↑ Marcum, Deanna B. (March 31, 1995). "Reclaiming the Research Library: The Founding of the Council on Library Resources." Paper presented at the Library History Seminar, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 22 pages; here: p. 2 ff. Retrieved 26 April 2015 from http://www.clir.org/about/history/
  7. ↑ Hallstein, Ann L. (1985). "Clapp, Verner W." In Allen Kent (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, 39, supplement 4, p. 79-86; here: p. 79, 85-86.
  8. ↑ Rosenberg, Jane (1985). "Council on Library Resources." In Allen Kent (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, 39, supplement 4, p. 86-98; here: p. 87.
  9. ↑ Hallstein (1985), p. 85.
  10. ↑ Rosenberg (1985), p. 88-92.
  11. ↑ Marcum, Deanna B. (1988). "President, Council on Library Resources." In Martin M. Cummings (Ed.), Influencing Change in Research Librarianship: A Festschrift for Warren J. Haas. Washington, DC: Council on Library Resources. p. 9-20; here: p. 11-12. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  12. ↑ Marcum (1988), p. 12.

External links